


From the Beginning

by fujinumasatorus



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Royalty, Love at First Sight, M/M, Prince!Wonho, implied nsfw, just know i support the top!ki agenda
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-26
Updated: 2020-01-26
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:36:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,667
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22413349
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fujinumasatorus/pseuds/fujinumasatorus
Summary: The man turns, prepared to head where him came through the back door, but Hoseok blabbers.“Wait, wait please just another minute. Don’t go just yet.”“Yes?” he answers with a sigh.“What is your name?”“Kihyun.”“I’m Hoseok.”“Well Hoseok, if you’re ever in need of medicine, to buy,” he emphasizes, “then my shop is here.”“Does this mean I can come back?”
Relationships: Lee Hoseok | Wonho/Yoo Kihyun
Comments: 4
Kudos: 50





	From the Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> can't believe i haven't posted a kiho yet 
> 
> here we go!!
> 
> not beta read sorry for the spelling errors

The garden wakes untouched. The birds lie in their nest, ducks cradle in their corners. The water of the serene pond sits only disturbed by the occasional falling flower petal, descending slowly until it taps the surface and follows the flow of the breeze.

As Hoseok peaks his head out of the wooden sliding door, carefully, he avoids unraveling the scene. With quiet steps, he goes out of his way to find the soft grass that will absorb the sound of his steps or the solid boulders that won’t creak when pressed down on.

Every step is considered to prevent stirring up any noises from the quaint world he walks through.

Well, he does it for that yes, to avoid upsetting the peaceful scene. But that’s not all. He needs to make a quick escape, out of watchful eyes. And he can’t do that if he’s mobbed by staff demanding he go back inside.

With a small nap of snacks and a journal prepared, he wanders out into the grass, silent, but speedily. He has already avoided making a single creak on the floor panels. Once past the gardens, he’ll slip under the nose of a nodding off guard to reach his nowhere in particular destination.

Angry shouts will soon fill the background when they realize their beloved royal son has managed to flee the manor once again, but he successfully makes it past all marks before the shrill demands of his presence will bounce off of the walls. Instead he hears the rustles of leaves that drift along the walkway, an occasional bird chirp coming from the raised branches, slowly stirring awake with the morning sun.

They’ll calm down soon enough, after all this is nowhere near the first time he has slipped away without permission.

Lee Hoseok simply cannot be pinned down, aside from when he has genuine responsibilities to handle. If there are no documents to be signed, no lessons to be learned, he would much rather spend his days away from the strict household.

Outside of his fences, there is a world of color that he cannot experience if he stayed practicing how to handle tea for one hour, then a blade in the next. He knows how to do those things. He’s done the motions so repeatedly he could complete the cycle half asleep. (Being sprayed with freezing cold water once also motivated him to get a better handle on the technicalities.)

With enough security in his lessons, he wanders. 

Outside of the manor, into its surrounding gardens any place he can go, but he prefers to get away where the people live, breathe, exist with their free lives.

As he makes way towards the local shops, he greets children playing in the street, the older women cleaning and cutting up vegetables in their windows. He greets the people, listens as they share all of the little details they care to. Not all are necessarily complaints about his family’s rule, some are just about their days, the land. Some simply offer a friendly greeting with the same courtesy he’s offered them. 

He stops once to help an older couple move a box. They appreciate the kindness, he assures them it’s no trouble. He keeps walking on where there’s more people to greet, more things to see, until he reaches the corner of the town where a shop stands that he’s unfamiliar with. While he’s certain he has made visits to everyone in the area at least once, he can’t recall the building even being here.

It has though, been a few weeks since he last came down.

Curious, he walks up the steps. The wood creaks loudly enough that it most likely travels inside, but he still knocks against the frame before peaking a head in.

“Hello?” 

The shop is basked in a red hue, as the sunlight beats against the red, satin curtains. The wood is new. The shop is clean. And no one is inside.

As he looks around, jars of herbs line the shelves, each labeled with names he’s read about in botanical lessons, but never seen up close. Brightening the room, there are carriers of flowers dipped into a low set trough of water. There are dozens of them, a faint fresh scent wafting off of them.

As he glances over piles of books, a finally man exits the back room.

“Hello.”

“Good morning,” the man greets after flinching back. He must not have heard him, and Hoseok feels bad for having startled him.

“Sorry for barging in.”

He’s never seen the shop, he had to come take a peek. It’s small, well laid out, and very comfortable without being suffocating. The colors, the displays make it something mysterious, he’s even more glad he entered. 

“No worries. Have you had a chance to look around? Do you need any help?”

“No, thank you,” he says honestly. 

“Are you here to make a purchase?”

“I actually came in out of curiosity,” he doesn’t finish the sentence. He waves a hand barely turning to fully face the owner. “I’ve never seen you around here.”

And he finds someone so beautiful, he doesn’t think he’s real. A sharp nose under deep brown eyes. Tousled hair, but it works so well it’s gorgeous. High cheekbones, pink lips, a few scattered beauty marks.

He would have definitely remembered the face.

He’s not a prince who knows everyone to specific details, but he tries his best. Every time he escapes, is an opportunity to get to know the faces and personalities of the town. He meets shopkeepers, merchants, those of every profession in between.

But this face stands out more than any other. 

“Do you memorize the faces of every single person in the area?”

“Well now yours is embedded into my mind. And I definitely won’t forget it,” he winks.

The man doesn’t fall victim to Hoseok’s charm like the others. A simple hello or twitch of a graceful smile and people melt in his grasp. It’s nice. He wants them to feel happy even for a moment. And who doesn’t want to feel loved?

Instead he watches back one eye narrowed, another with a raised eyebrow. 

“I’ve just moved.”

He turns away, begins adjusting a few packed cases as to prove his point. 

When Hoseok looks around, the place looks rather put together. If he’s been here a short while, then he made use of his time to completely set up the shop.

“Must be very new, not even the building was here before.”

“Finished last week to my knowledge.”

“Wonderful timing then, isn’t it?”

“For?”

“For you to come and me to arrive.”

The man nearly drops the jar in his hands, but steadies himself before it can slip and break.

“If there is nothing you need,” the man speaks slowly, carefully places the stuff in his hand before turning back. “Then best for you to be on your way. I have much more to settle.”

Hoseok pauses. He went a little too far too fast.

“Please see yourself out.”

The man turns, prepared to head where he came through the back door, but Hoseok blabbers.

“Wait, wait please just another minute. Don’t go just yet.”

“Yes?” he answers with a sigh.

“What is your name?”

“Kihyun.”

“I’m Hoseok.”

“Well Hoseok, if you’re ever in need of medicine, to buy,” he emphasizes, “then my shop is here.”

“Does this mean I can come back?”

Without an answer, the man exits to the back room, leaving Hoseok to stand alone in the center of the room. He leaves a few moments later, but not feeling totally defeated.

0

He can’t so easily escape anymore as his parents demand someone watch over his door. 

During his last escape, he missed a meeting with extended family, that admittedly he forgot all about. After arriving home from slipping inside, he was immediately caught and brought to the dinner table where he was met with a tense silence.

Late. Almost missing. They were all waiting for him.

He said little after he was made to sit down at the table, food already served, going untouched until he was present, and waiting to be consumed.

He’s watched like a hound after, constantly followed by as if he was a toddler that couldn’t be trusted alone for a second. His curfew is strict, he’s present and early for every event, and he doesn’t complain once through it all.

By the third week, he’s grown anxious, but there is some luck. He has no scheduled lessons as his parents traveled to a monastery up the mountains, meaning for the first time in a while, he genuinely has nothing to get done, he finally finds himself alone.

Advising staff to leave him with his journals, he closes the door to the western library and makes way for the window. He took enough time to mentally record the ridges protruding from the outer wall. He’s noted anywhere he could possibly step, sturdy enough to handle himself on his way down and out.

In the midst of being scolded, learning his lessons, or simply spending time with his mother as he kept her company, his mind circled back to a little shop on the edge of the town. Not just the building, not just the herbs stored inside, but to the fascinating man who runs it all.

He peeks out the window, minutes after the gardeners should be moving to the front of their home to prune the leaves. With the coast clear, he takes one last glance back to make sure the door is locked before quietly opening the glass frame and stepping down.

The walls are sturdy, there isn’t even a creak to which he silently offers thanks. Two floors down, he jumps onto the grass, no one to his left, none to his right.

He makes his way around and over the wall and only when he escapes below the hill, out of sight from the manor does he breathe a sigh of relief.

0

He wouldn’t be himself if he didn’t greet the local people, so any time they call him, he answers back. When he’s asked for help, he stops and gives assistance. He does, though, need to be back soon. He has a few hours at best, which isn’t the greatest, but it's something. 

He speeds up the last part of his walk to get where he wants. He does have to be back before it’s noticed he’s gone.

The corner shop comes into sight. He’s a little bit nervous and he doesn’t know why. 

This time around, Kihyun is inside the main room already. He’s off to the left, sorting a bunch of flowers into their respective carriers.

“Hello, Kihyun,” he greets. He would never forget a name, especially one of someone he definitely wishes to remember.

“Hello there..” he falls silent, frown settling in.

“Hoseok,” he offers helpfully, not entirely put off by him having forgotten. Just a little bit.

“Hoseok, right. Can I help you?”

“Oh no,” he starts, but then remembers how well that answer played out last time. “I was just. In the neighborhood..”

Kihyun catches his silence, moving past it to give him a break.

“I admittedly did not expect you to be back.”

“I can’t always get away,” he switches up, but winces at his wording. Kihyun doesn’t miss it.

“Can’t always get away?”

“From work,” he saves.

“What do you do?”

“I work at the Lee manor. Tend to the gardens.”

Sure he’s never done any actual work of the sort, but he has a wide variety of knowledge from herbs to flowers. While his family thought it important to have a basic knowledge of medicinal remedies, he went even further in his studies. 

He’s lucky to have thought quickly rather than pick a career to which he knows nothing. Though mentioning the manor at all has him wishing he had held his tongue. Maybe he tipped too close, but it’s out there, so he’ll ride it.

“Sounds like a time consuming job.”

“Mostly my mornings, it’s nice. But details.”

“Do you need help with anything, since you came back to my shop.”

“Nothing in particular. I came by because I was curious.”

“About?”

“Getting to know you.”

“Getting to know me?” He repeats, uncertain.

“I don’t mean it to be too forward, I’m sorry. I just love getting to know the people in the area. I know most people by name, help them whenever I can. Mainly lifting.” To add a little of a bounce he raises an arm, patting the biceps. Even under his loose shirt the muscle is visible. “You’re new, hence why I wanted to meet you.”

“That’s.. very kind of you,” Kihyun settles on, but his words are still wary.

“I didn’t realize until after how forceful it came off. I would like to sincerely apologize if I made you uncomfortable.”

Kihyun shrugs.

“Not many people have come by. Admittedly I was thrown off, but I just wasn’t expecting such a greeting. A very straightforward one.”

Hoseok pouts, ignoring the words about him. He thought a bit more of the people to greet him. Not that many? He thought perhaps the community would be more tight knit.

“No need to look so upset, people are busy. But the owners of the shop to my left and across welcomed me, and were generous to each gift me a basket.”

That’s better then! But he still finds himself pouting. He sighs, feigning theatrics.

“So I wasn’t even the first to greet you.”

Of all things, Kihyun chuckles. The sound waves through him and warms his chest.

“No you’re not. And look, even without a gift to try and make up for it. You’re falling behind, Hoseok.”

He’s right. He didn’t even think to bring Kihyun something. He knew he was new to the area and yet he returned empty handed.

“I can, I might have,” he panics while reaching for his shoulder bag. 

But Kihyun lays a hand over his forearm, stopping.

“I was teasing, honest. No need to worry about it.”

He’s not entirely relieved.

“I can bring you something next time I return. What would you like? Is there anything you need?”

"I don't need anything. Just you is fine."

“Expect me again then. Is that alright?”

“If I said no would it stop you?”

“If it was genuine enough, I would never want to overstep boundaries.”

So he went a little too hard on his flirting the first time, he’s apologized for it. He won’t do it again.

Kihyun stares at him, he probably realizes it’s been a moment too long. He removes his gaze, and immediately reaches for something to distract him. He starts arranging the already organized flowers once more.

“You’re. It’s fine, you’re fine. You’re welcome here. And I’d be a fool to turn away a customer.”

Hoseok smiles as he stutters just the way he had. The tips of the other’s ears have gone red. He gets flustered fast. And Hoseok would give the world to see it happen again. 

He’ll be back (with a gift next time around).

0

Miraculously, he makes a break again the next day. With his parents still being gone on their travels, there are no guests in his home, so he’s alone aside from some of the staff. He attends breakfast and finishes up two lessons before holing up in his study. After being served tea, he reminds staff he’ll be buried in texts, so to leave him to the paper.

Once the footsteps have all cleared the hallway, he peeks out the window, noting the back garden is empty. He follows down the same path as before, figures he may as well get used to it. The outside is still, no workers, not even a stray animal making their way past the close pond.

Without even thinking to wander, his mind leads him to a little shop towards the outskirts.

Inhaling short, exhaling slow, he’s calm. He walks up the dark steps, and slides open the door.

He feels a warm greeting, just from the shop itself. The shelves are full of wonder, the flowers add a sense of magic. It’s inviting. And better than all of those things combined is Kihyun standing behind the counter.

“Hello there, Kihyun.”

The man looks up from the counter where a paper for news lays in his grasp.

“Hello there, Hoseok.”

“Lovely day we’re having.”

“Isn’t it? Perfect for rice and tea,” Kihyun adds, but he’s already failing to hold his face. And Hoseok withers as well, giggling loudly.

“Just as promised, I’ve returned. And look, a gift.”

He pulls out a glass jar of tea, something he slipped from the kitchen between meals. 

He hands over the jar, Kihyun thanks him after opening the lid and taking in the dry floral scent. It’s one of Hoseok’s favorites, he only hopes Kihyun likes it too.

“You know, there is no sense of gradualness here. Our first meeting to second was weeks apart. Now to our third is only a day.”

“Should I have waited a bit longer? Then you would have been waiting longer for your gift.” 

“It’s just unexpected. How will you surprise me next time?”

“I can expect a fourth meeting then?”

Kihyun catches himself, but it’s too late. A wide grin has already spread across his own face.

“Well, you seem persistent enough to come again. Or have you forgotten that I requested you leave the first time you stepped into my shop.”

“A friendly suggestion only because I had nothing to purchase. And you didn’t kick me out the second time, to be exact. Now, here I am on the third.”

“Would you like to be thrown out on the street?”

“From someone of your build?” he teases again.

Squinting, Kihyun places down the jar in his hand. Hoseok’s own fingers curl, nervous from the game he’s playing. His friends have this same sort of back and forth, with their sharp tongues and quick wit. He shouldn’t be teasing, especially to someone he barely knows, but Kihyun already has him on his toes, adding in a few teasing comments.

“I’ve been meeting you eye to eye so there is no need for you to affront my height,” he says seriously. “Second,” he taps his own pecs, smirk tilting up. ”looking lithe and actually being so are two very different things.”

He hadn’t meant height, and he wouldn’t. Because looking at it, they are basically the same height. He moves past that, instead focusing on the second sentence.

“Oh?” His own eyes glint. “What are you hiding, Yoo Kihyun?”

“Strong arms and a strong chest.”

“I don’t know if I believe you.”

“I have nothing to prove to a stranger.”

“Stranger? Is this not our third meeting?”

“You’re very persistent for someone I do not know very well. Acquaintances then.”

“Would you like to? Get to know me better that is.”

“Is that what you want?”

“To get to know you? Yes, of course.”

For a second, Hoseok loses all confidence. All of those he’s played a game with, pined after, have wanted him back. Whether for a night or as many as they could get away with.

If he was too eager too fast, then these 3 moments will be all they’ve ever had. Maybe he shouldn’t be so hung up on it, but the feeling is there, that he doesn’t want to lose this without knowing what could have been. 

After much too long, Kihyun responds.

“You’re not toying with me here? Swear it.”

“I swear.”

“Well, alright then.”

“Alright?”

“Alright then, Hoseok. I’d like to get to know you better, too.”

0

So he returns, over and over again, whenever he can risk getting away.

For the most part, they stay in Kihyun’s shop because there is always something to be done. Hoseok offered his assistance right from the get go, and while Kihyun has a specific order for everything wanting to do most things himself, he graciously accepts.

He scolds every once and awhile, making sure Hoseok is doing everything right. Reading is sure different than practical experience. And sure he pouts, but when Kihyun takes his hands in his own, showing him the proper way to split apart the roots of a plant, he finds he doesn’t mind the directions. Even if spoken with a semi-masked annoyance.

The thanks he gets after makes him forget he struggled at all. 

Some afternoons, they’ll share their knowledge on flowers, herbs, and how to use them for medicine. Kihyun shares that his knowledge is from a family practice. Hoseok says he’s received an education, but went in depth with medicine on his own. It’s his goal to help others, especially because of the amazing people that have helped him.

It’s almost strange, finding a rhythm with Kihyun. For it to be so natural, so comfortable, is something he’s yet to experience. 

He’s spent evenings forced to grand parties, meeting so many that by the end of the night his throat is parched all of the introductions. Sometimes the two talk so much between themselves Hoseok’s voice is rough by the time he returns home.

While Hoseok loves everything Kihyun has to share, he also appreciates how they can work in a comfortable silence. They share looks from time to time, smile up at each other. Their cheeks go up so their eyes shut tight. The shop can be so silent that the only fills are snipped stems falling to the ground or swishing water filling the flower holsters.

He can’t help but see the experience as refreshing. Maybe it’s something he needed, and he thanks the stars that it’s with Kihyun, because he wouldn’t want this with anyone else.

There are so many minutes in between where he thinks the other feels the same way. In his gentle smiles, their shared whispers, longing glances. He doesn’t want to get his hopes up, though. And besides, shouldn’t having Kihyun as a friend be more than enough?

But then Kihyun stares into his eyes, hand clutching his shoulder, and he swallows harder than he should.

0

“What do you think of the royal family?” He asks one afternoon. 

The pair sits behind the counter, but still visible to anyone who could walk in. Kihyun had picked two cases of fresh flowers, some for recipes, some to sell whole, some to ground up into powder. Hoseok offers his assistance in cleaning up the stems, making them more appealing for the shelf.

In all of their visits, they’ve shared names, likes and dislikes, bits of their pasts, but he’s curious to know what Kihyun thinks of him. The him Kihyun doesn’t know to be Hoseok.

He’ll tell him. Eventually.

“I know nothing of them.”

“You don’t? No names? No faces?”

There’s the single explanation he needs as to why Kihyun thought nothing when they first met. Not that he even shared his last name, but his face has made way around the area. He doesn’t know anything at all.

“I’m not particularly curious about learning of them either,” he adds.

“Why not?” Hoseok pouts without thinking. Kihyun even isn’t the slightest bit interested in learning about him. Used to his sulking, the other doesn’t think anything of it.

“From the area I left, the rulers, not that they wreaked havoc but they sure didn’t save face when things went wrong with the people. There was endless suffering that could have changed with the proper resources.”

“Did you come here because the family promises better?” He wonders out loud. If you wanted to get away from bad ruling, you would need to go somewhere where the court is different. Greater. Where they care.

“You seem fond of the rulers here, don’t you?” Not accusatory in a negative way, he simply asks, because he can see the admiration.

Hoseok loves his family, and of course would be fond of them. Things would be different if they weren’t generous. At least he thinks they would be.

He was taught to be considerate of others, to care for the people even if he didn’t know them personally. They live under him, with him. He continues to live the way he does because they trust him. 

He goes out, speaks with enough people to learn issues. While they never approve, his family is never in the dark knowing he sneaks out. Sure they scold, but they’ve never truly done anything to stop him. They’d rather he use a more formal way of communication, but he uses the complaints he hears, shares it with his mother and father to change what has been made wrong. And if he’s already gone out and returned, what can they do?

“I know they do a lot. Personally.”

“I won’t doubt you if you’ve experienced their graces first hand, but I won’t praise them for what I don’t know. If I stay I’ll be able to see it, though. I can only hope they are genuine to the people and hear any concerns.”

He nearly forgets his original question, instead freezing while Kihyun continues piling up the stems he’s cut.

“If you stay?” He worries.

Kihyun pauses, nimble fingers twirl a stem, before he takes the blade and snips off another end. 

“I left after things went south. So far the area here is wonderful, but I can’t guarantee things will stay as they are.”

The silence last a few moments. Only Kihyun snipping the ends of more flowers to rid them of the browning stem fills the air. When he narrows his eyes, noting the lack of work, Hoseok begins sorting once again.

He himself doesn’t know much of the royalty in other areas. Specifically, how they rule. He knows of them. They’ve attended grand parties, he’s been introduced to many in their selective alliance many years ago. And then, he was a disinterested teenager more intrigued by lively music and traditional dance. 

Mostly, he’s never been interested in ruling. He does all of the motions, without really recognizing it’s because he’ll have to take over. He would change all of that though, if it meant the other wouldn’t leave.

“Do you?”

“Do I what?”

“Have any concerns?”

“Are you going to fix them?” Kihyun snorts.

“For you, I would do anything.”

Their silence begins once again. A stare down ensues. Hoseok looks earnestly to Kihyun. He hasn’t admitted who he is, but he’ll keep any promise. Not just as someone of royalty who is obligated to satisfy the people, but as Hoseok.

“Are you trying to keep me around?” 

“Yes.“

There’s no need to second guess it. He loves being around Kihyun, and wants him to stay. If he wants to, of course.

“Is that a promise?”

“It is.”

“How can I have any complaints when you’re here.”

And there is it, the nervous flutter in his chest.

“Then you’ll stay?”

He holds his breath until he gets an answer.

“Alright.”

0

Kihyun is busy filling jars to line the shelves. His business has done very well in the time of his arrival. The townspeople were in desperate need of new remedies and someone so knowledgeable of the earth. By the time Hoseok arrives at the shop, he’s nearly finished filling them.

“I can finish them by myself, take a seat.”

Better for him. Not that he doesn’t love helping, but now he can just watch. Kihyun holds his signature face, scrunched up while concentrating deeply. His fingers have stained green, no matter how much he tries to keep the mess contained, it spills over. 

Hoseok rests his face in his hand, humming softly to fill the air.

During a lull, Kihyun looks up.

“You’re always staring at me,” he tells him.

“I am?”

Maybe he always is. In the playback of his memory he sees the long wooden shelf, jars lined up and filling the top. He sees a sliding door, scraping the ends of the roof and floor as they open. He sees a silver knife, occasionally glinting as it hits the light, held by a pair of firm yet caring hands.

In front of all of those things, every single memory he can bring about Kihyun standing in the middle of them all. The shelf he meticulously organizes, the door which leads back to his own room, how he handles all of the merchandise in the shop himself.

So yeah, Hoseok does stare at him. And what a view.

“You’re pretty, you have to know that. Don’t you?”

Kihyun is confident with himself, and has worked a long way to get there. Everyone deserves self satisfaction, and he certainly has it.

As much as Kihyun knows he’s a sight to be seen, compliments fluster him to no end. Hoseok knows how hard he tries to be unaffected when they come from him, but when his ears go pink and his shoulders curl up and in, well, he knows he’s got him. 

“Thank you.. Maybe you’re not so bad yourself.”

“Not so bad?” Not so bad! He sounds exasperated before he can stop himself. He’s the handsome prince! People fall at his feet. Whispers of his beauty are told to all of the lands. 

“Are you begging for compliments? How vain.”

“What’s wrong with wanting to hear it from time to time? Besides, don’t you think just maybe I have a reason to be.”

He juts out his bottom lip, tilts his head to the side trying to appear even more soft in the moment. 

“I wouldn’t know. I never said I stared at you like you stare at me.”

Well then, he’ll have to change that.

“I’m here, aren’t I? Take a look.”

The two fall silent, Hoseok waiting, Kihyun pondering. Just for a second, Hoseok wants him to only see him. He wants Kihyun to feel the same intrigue he did when they met. 

When his eyes peak over, he has to hold his breath. He’s stopped twiddling with the flowers, no more movements from their knives. Kihyun is watching him, carefully, with soft, but shy eyes.

Maybe Kihyun is afraid to truly look at him in the end, but he does it anyways. Who knows what he’ll see and find. He can only hope it’s the same as him. Now that he’s under the gaze, maybe Hoseok is afraid to be laid out. He could come entirely opposite to the conclusion he wants. Maybe everything they’ve built will collapse.

Hoseok nearly crumbles, shifts, as if sand in Kihyun’s palm. He stirs and falls to the shape of the other’s hand. Kihyun keeps his gaze firm, Hoseok has nowhere to cover.

“Hoseok, I-“ he begins.

But the same wooden door he walks through every time he enters slides open.

“Kihyun-ah,” one of the local farmers calls after coming through. “Good afternoon.”

“Hoseok, you’re here, too? Hello,” his wife by his side calls.

Kihyun recovers faster than he, for he stands laying down the items in his hand before walking over to them. 

After a beat, he waves himself, offering them a genuine smile, though small. He loves the people, but not when they’ve interrupted such a moment.

“Good afternoon, what can I get you?”

And so Kihyun helps them. Hoseok respectfully stays quiet in the corner. This is a business after all, he can’t so childishly demand the man’s attention. 

Even after they’ve left, they don’t return to the heavy space they shortly found themselves in. Kihyun does glance over to him for a few seconds at a time, but neither dare themselves speak of it.

Hoseok leaves that afternoon knowing he’s never felt such a yearning in his life. 

0

Hoseok wants to kiss Kihyun. Sure he’s wanted to from the beginning of it all, but now he can’t get the thought out of his mind. He’s met Kihyun twice since their little stare down, and each time the air has been tense. Unless it was just him imagining it. He has moments he overthinks, but he’s sure this isn’t one of those times.

Anytime they’ve found each other’s gazes, they immediately turn away, and then peek back up to see if he’s looked up again. Hoseok’s palms go sweaty, they shake whenever Kihyun hands him something in the shop. 

Once their fingers grazed and Kihyun pulled back like it stung.

So they’ve both been on edge, but Kihyun never pushes him away. And Hoseok keeps coming back.

He wants to know what Kihyun was about to say before they were interrupted. It weighs on his mind, encompassing every thought until he’s silent, replaying the scene in his mind trying to pick it apart and see if he’s certain that he knows what was almost said.

And maybe if he finally kisses him, it’ll tell Kihyun how he feels. It’ll clear the air and let them proceed from there.

His tutor notices his lack of focus, scolds him for a while, leaving Hoseok to apologize profusely. The hour is up regardless, wasted, but he’ll make up for it next time around.

The rest of his afternoon schedule includes individual study which he can’t help but feel grateful for. After saying his goodbye, Hoseok is left alone with himself and stacks and stacks of manuscripts and scrolls. 

And the small bouquet of camellias he picked before his session began. Hidden behind his day pack, he pulls them out. None have lost their vitality, still holding up strong from the small cup of water he placed them in.

Strap over his shoulder, flowers gently between his lips, he uses his free hands to climb down the same pathway he uses to leave the out the window of the manor. 

He moves briskly as he has no time for distractions. Rather than soft steps, he leaps stone to stone, the force of his shoes leaving quick taps to fill the quiet air. 

He thanks his lucky stars he knows the workers' schedules. No one is out and about on the side he makes his escape. 

In the safety of town he full force runs, only offering short waves to greet back those who call to him. There will be plenty of other opportunities to share in pleasantries, but right now he has a mission.

He makes it to the small shop he knows so well, and hesitates.

He has nothing to check his hair, his clothes. When he thinks of all of the running he has done, he only hopes he sprayed himself with enough musky perfume. He hadn’t even thought he could be a mess, but it’s not like he can turn around and go find out. 

“Hoseok?” The door has been left open just wide enough that he can see the other’s frame peeking through.

“Kihyun,” he chokes out. He takes a step forward, then two. As many as it takes until he reaches the door and slides it open wide enough to pass through.

The other’s eyes immediately find the mix of white and red petals. But Hoseok decides he has no time for shame, he came back for a reason. He wants to tell Kihyun how he feels. And yes maybe kiss him if he’s lucky enough.

“These are for you.” He nods ups. He licks at his lips, feeling the nerves creep over him.

“For me?”

He nods, hesitant. Kihyun reaches his hands out, so Hoseok does the same, preparing to hand over the stems, but their fingers don’t reach.

Kihyun’s palms meet his face, his thumbs gently brush just under his cheek bones. His palms are the slightest callused from his work in the fields, but as Hoseok loses his breath, he could never mind the mild scrape.

“Kihyun, I really like-“

Kihyun pulls him forward and gives him the kiss he’s wanted.

0

They kiss again, and again. Some short and breathy, some long and slow until Hoseok is a whiny mess begging for something, anything more. 

And Kihyun is oh so generous in giving it to him. After he’s had a little bit of fun. But Hoseok likes the game. He gives in without complaint.

Kihyun’s an abyss, mysterious, filled with wonders and promises, and Hoseok gladly plunges himself in, ready to risk whatever is at the bottom. He’s already walked straight to the edge of the cliff, without fear. He jumped in himself. He’d do it all over again. And just to prove it’s what he wants, he’d even let himself fall backwards, eyes closed, arms crossed over his chest. Going without a worry.

Every time without fail Kihyun takes the lead, and Hoseok pliantly falls down. 

The two both verbally admitted their feelings after, as if the flowers and kiss weren’t enough. But he could always use some extra reassurance. Turns out, Kihyun needed it, too. The entire time they had only been guessing with each other he learns. The questioning wasn’t so one-sided.

And after the confession, he knew for sure Kihyun was holding back.

Kihyun takes away all of Hoseok’s past uncertainty of their relationship with a single touch. He melts under warm palms and kissed out lips.

And just to be certain, he holds him again. Rewriting the confession, cementing in his mind. Each time is like a fresh poem, all written for him, same meaning behind them all, but spoken with a new breath. He never gets tired of hearing it over and over.

0

Hoseok’s spent and on his back, breath evening out in the glowy aftermath. He lets go of the sheets he gripped so tightly as Kihyun kisses the slope of his chest up his neck to jaw line. 

Kihyun closed the shop for the afternoon, writing on a note that he’d be out. He is out of the shop technically. Outside and in the room next door staying sprawled in bed as Hoseok nuzzles him.

“You can stay here, can’t you?”

It’s funny, for how much he comes back, it feels like he’ll always be gone at the end of it all.

How he wants to, but can’t. At some point they’re going to come looking for him, if they haven’t already. They only respect Hoseok’s space so much, and it’s difficult to do that when the staff is already well aware he goes behind their backs.

“I have to be at the manor before dark.”

From the sliver of light that peeks through satin curtains, Hoseok knows he has to leave in the next half hour, before the sun falls any lower.

“Just for tonight.” Kihyun pecks him, sturdies his grip on his waist, and pecks him again. “And you can slip back in the morning.”

“One day I’ll find a night to be with you, but it can’t be tonight.”

“And how far away is that?”

He doesn’t know, and frankly, it may be a long time before he can find out.

“The workers will notice,” he continues without an answer.

“No one will vouch for you? No one can cover up your absence so I can have you a little longer?”

He nearly whines, knowing he needs to stay firm but wants to give in. Any more insistence and Hoseok will fold in defeat.

“The rules are very strict.”

“A stuffy rule and you can’t be here.”

“I’ll make it up to you. I promise.”

“You better.”

Hoseok wraps his arms around Kihyun, holding him a little tighter than necessary. He breathes in the warm air, smelling of the flowers that have filtered through even on the sheets. Before he has to go again, he basks in the poetry. 

0

Hoseok walks down the line to the town, greets the occasional passerby. They know his habits, leaving the palace to explore their surroundings.

At one point, he had always walked with no destination in mind, but these days he needs to reach an herbal shop on the end of the road. It’s the only place he cares to go. The only place worth sneaking out to and receiving endless scoldings from his family. 

One fateful day he had decided to walk in, and he finds someone he can now never think to let go.

He steps into the little shop, sliding the door quietly so as to not disturb anyone surrounding. 

“What do you take me for? A fool?”

He stops. Rather than a warm greeting that he’s gotten so used to, he’s thrown off, from the accusations of all things. He lifts his head from the entryway and Kihyun is glaring at him.

He’s never looked like this at him, even when he thought him nothing more than a pesky customer who was actually more interested in wasting his time than purchasing something from him.

“Am I someone you’re just using to reach the good faiths of the people? To speak well of you? What do you want from me?” He spits.

Hoseok is so thrown, not having any idea where such a thing could have been pulled from.

“Kihyun, what do you mean? However could you think that?”

“A group of women entered this morning asking about my time with the prince. I having no idea what she was talking about, told her so. And she has to be the one to tell me that you are Lee Hoseok. Heir to the throne.”

The secret he keeps under wraps has been finally uncovered. He did not mean to hide such a thing, entirely. Maybe he ran with it, purposefully upholding the thought that he was just a simple gardener in the area, because Kihyun didn’t know who he was so there was no need to say it. It felt freer that way. But he didn’t mean it to hurt Kihyun.

“Oh.”

“That’s all you have to say?”

“I am Lee Hoseok, yes. But I’ve never come here and hid that with the intent of wanting to use you,” he speaks honestly. He’s here because he’s been interested in the other the moment he laid eyes on him.

“Remembering my face? Learning my name, asking my troubles, assuring you’ll fix them all. Then? What is all of that? Those who came over by the way were very well versed in your good graces.”

Kihyun finally falters at Hoseok’s face. Maybe he’s been around, maybe he’s more open than he should be, but he has a heart for everyone. But even then, one part is locked away for no one else. There’s only one person he wants to give it to.

“Kihyun.”

“You can see yourself out, because I doubt you’re here to make a purchase,” he stands his ground once again.

“Please, give me a second to speak.”

“And what? What could you possibly say to me?”

“The only reason I came back is because I wanted to see you.”

“Wanted to see me what?”

“You. Just you. From the very beginning, talk with you, get to know you.”

“And to do that you had to lie to me?”

“You didn’t know who I was, I didn’t bother to change it. I knowingly hid it, but not because I thought I could use it against you. I promise.”

It’s his own fault for hiding such a thing. But he at least hopes Kihyun knows he would never use him. He has to let him know that.

“I fell for you the moment I saw you. I’ve been honest with every spoken word. I shouldn’t have held back. That was my mistake.”

Hoseok stays quiet, letting Kihyun find his words. He’s prepared to accept anything he has to say.

“When were you planning on telling me?”

The silence continues. He doesn’t know. It would have come out somehow, of course, but he did know he wanted to do it through his own words. He enjoyed being just Hoseok and Kihyun, not the prince and a shopkeeper. They’ve always been more than secret meetings in an unknown herbal shop. He’s meant everything he’s told him. Wanting to get to know him, their confession, and everything shared in between.

He knew that he was holding back the secret, and shouldn’t have done it. He has no excuse.

“Were you ever going to tell me?”

“I would have, I swear it. I just didn’t know how. You didn’t know who I was and I kept it that way. I should have never done so. If I could do it over, I would.”

Kihyun crosses his arms, his fingernails scrape the fabric of his shirt. 

“So what does this mean?”

“In what context?”

“The prince. And I. Some sort of forbidden..”

Hoseok’s too shocked to even go pink. His skin can’t properly flush, but he does feel the air get knocked out of him. If Kihyun loves him, then he just might faint.

“Love?”

“You said it first.”

Of all times to shy away. Hoseok reaches for Kihyun’s hands, pulling apart his arms, intertwining their fingers ever so delicately in case the other wants to pull away. But he doesn’t. They fit like a jigsaw, one of a kind, and they’re the two pieces fit just for each other.

“Kihyun, I love you.”

Maybe this isn’t the right time to say it for the first time. Or maybe it is. When better than to admit it unashamedly?

“I love you, too.”

He’d collapse if not trying so hard to uphold his composure.

“I love you,” he repeats. “And I promise you won’t be some sort of secret. This won’t be some sort of forbidden love as you called it.”

“Don’t laugh at me, I’m being very serious. Does your family know about these little excursions, Mr. I Can’t always get away.”

“They don’t. Not yet.” And before Kihyun can start spouting off Hoseok pecks him, keeping their foreheads together once he’s finished. “They will. I promise.”

“You better.” 

Kihyun smacks at Hoseok’s chest, but all he can do is laugh back and hold him close. Yeah, he could never let this go.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading  
> i started this fic on a whim but im really glad i got it done
> 
> if there are any spelling errors forgive me i will fix them later probably
> 
> Find me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/imwhatistan)


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